During the hot summer season in China, outdoor workers are exposed to significant risks in regard to health and safety, which raises general public concern, as well as further considerations, as unfortunately, heat strokes or even accidental death are not infrequent for those engaged in outdoor labour and service.
Therefore, with the overall mission to protect employee’s health, promote their wellness and contain heat-related risks, the State Administration of Work Safety, together with the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security and the All China Federation of Trade Unions have implemented the Administrative Measures for Occupational Heat Stress (the “Measures”), which entered into force in 2012 and is effective at a national level.
The aforesaid measures are aimed at establishing limitations as to the possibility of outdoor work depending on the weather conditions (in particular, temperature and humidity), a pecuniary subsidy system for employees, a health prevention and check system for outdoor workers, and an administrative and trade union surveillance system.
As for the limitations for outdoor work, Article 8 of the Measures outlines the procedures that employers shall adopt, under high temperature conditions, to reduce labour intensity and outdoor operation time. In more detail, when the daily maximum temperature is ≥40°C, the employer shall suspend outdoor operation; when the daily maximum temperature is ≥37°C but ＜40 °C, outdoor working hours shall not be more than 6, and the consecutive working hours shall not exceed the limit prescribed by the State; when the daily maximum temperature is ≥35°C but ＜37°C, the employer shall arrange for shift work, reduce continuous operation time and shall not arrange outdoor overtime. Particular limitations apply to juvenile workers and female employees who are pregnant; neither can be assigned to work outdoors if the temperature is above 35°C, or even within the workplace if the temperature is above 33°C.
As mentioned, the Measures in Article 17 introduce a subsidy system for employees. Employees engaged in high temperature operations are entitled to receive a subsidy, to be added to the total wage, if they are assigned to work outdoors and the external temperature is not less than 35°C. The same applies when the indoor workplace temperature cannot be reduced to below 33°C.
As the standards on the high temperature subsidies are formulated by the provincial administrative departments of human resources and social security, jointly with other relevant departments, there are differences at local level. Based on the increase approved in June 2019, employees in Jiangsu Province shall receive a monthly subsidy of ¥300.
With the aim of protecting the health of employees, the Measures also provide that the employer with occupational exposure to heat stress shall appoint a specific person to monitor high temperatures daily, detect and assess the occupational hazards according to regulations, provide occupational health training for the employee and provide sufficient occupational heat stroke prevention beverages. Moreover, the employer shall establish dedicated rest areas in high-temperature locations, equipped with stress prevention facilities (such as air-conditioning) and formulate a contingency plan against heat stroke.
Trade unions also play a key role in implementing the Measures. In fact, Articles 20 and 21 of the Measures provide that trade unions shall supervise the execution of the occupational heat stress prevention measures, request the employer to rectify violations, and in case of refusal, request the relevant department to deal with such infringement(s) in accordance with the law.
